Lawrence Tibbals Beal, 63, was booked at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning on suspicion of possessing child porn. He’s being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.

According to Riverside County sheriff’s Sgt. Walter Mendez, Beal came under investigation last month after four suspects were arrested in connection with two burglaries.

One of the suspects told investigators that he stole a laptop with sexually explicit pictures of children. The suspect contacted the alleged owner of the computer, Beal, and attempted to extort money from him in exchange for returning it, Mendez said.

After investigators recovered the device and allegedly confirmed there was illicit material on it, they served a search warrant at the suspect’s residence in the 23900 block of Pine Field Drive.

Beal was taken into custody on Tuesday, according to Mendez.

The burglary suspects, three of whom are juveniles, were not identified.